Our guest writer this week is Mr Martin Kutschker, who shared the following worship at our first ever Family Worship via Zoom. If you missed out on hearing his inspirational talk, you can read it here.

All the best for the week ahead,

Mrs Meggan James.

2020: “The year God lost His glasses”

In the years preceding 2020, so many companies and groups spoke about 2020 as a year of vision and clarity – playing off the whole ‘2020 vision’ thing…..

Funny how all that ‘bombastic motivation’ has gone kind of quiet this year, hey!

For those of us with any sprinkling of a God-concept, it may seem God has in fact, lost His glasses. It seems this year is forever spinning way out of control as each day goes on.

But to be honest, maybe 2020 is just messing with our deeply privileged, western first world, affluence entitlement…as it is certainly not the only issue or time in current or past human history that has been touched by a pandemic, uncertainty, death, disease….

But, as I’ve gone through 2020, I‘ve asked myself this question often…and I ask it of you today: Has God lost His glasses? Or are we the ones that have actually misplaced our own glasses?! Deeper still, are we wearing the wrong glasses?

I know what I’m like without my actual glasses. My kids think it’s funny to put my glasses on. They walk around bumping into each other and corners of walls, because the glasses aren’t made for them!

As a young fella I knew what it was like to live outside of a Creator/creation mindset, where my life was lived out of an ‘eat, drink and be merry’ mindset. I was my own god, and with no transcendent meaning, purpose or accountability, my whole experience of life was meaningless and downright selfish. Suffering and evil made no sense and had no redemptive purpose hidden within, that I could see. I was oblivious. I was choosing the glasses (or the blue pills from The Matrix) on offer from my education, my government, my media consumption and going back to sleep on a regular basis.

But it all changed for me in July of 1991. 29 years ago I met Jesus, in my bedroom at the age of 18. I had an encounter with the Creator of the universe as the Bible my mum gave me when I was a little boy fell off my bookshelf, landing open on Ephesians 4:17-24, right in front of me.

I read it. 

And like the red pill in the Matrix, I swallowed it. And got woken up. BORN AGAIN. REBORN. 

In an instant, I had a new birth within me. I crossed over from being a denier, an enemy, a ridiculer of Jesus and His followers – to being hungry and thirsty for Jesus and living His way and willing to suffer for Him. Redemption entered my life. Suffering began to make sense. Hope dawned through trials. God gave me His set of glasses to see through His eyes.

I pray that today, wherever you are in your view of the year that is 2020 and your view of God, that you would see He has not lost His glasses. He hasn’t left us alone. He’s not unaware and aloof of our earthly trials and tribulations. 

So what view of God should I have, you ask?

Look no further than His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the words of Jesus Himself: “He that sees the Son, has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Jesus is the ‘express image of God’ (Hebrews 1). We need look no further than Jesus. Emmanuel. God in the flesh. God with ‘skin on’.

I pray for a better understanding of 2020. Let’s recognise, God hasn’t lost His glasses at all. He is in fact offering, as He always does, a chance for us afresh to receive a new set of glasses to view the world through. Won’t you take a look today through His lenses?!

Grab a Bible. Grab a friend – figuratively. Read the Gospels of Jesus and see what God was like when He walked the earth. Talk to your friend who knows this Jesus and see how He has impacted their life in modern times to put context and relevance into a way of life that is completely different from every other faith and worldview there is. It’s one where God comes down to us, lives the life we should’ve lived, dies the death we should’ve died, bridges the gap on our behalf and makes the greatest substitution in all history: Our faults in exchange for His forgiveness and freedom.

And all this while we were His enemies. A gift, not earned. By faith, not of works.

In response, with new glasses on, you too can live out the life that He has for you to walk in. That my friends, is still what can make 2020, like mine in 1991, a year that will change the rest of your history, and get us ready for eternity.

2020….The year God lost His glasses? 

No.

2020. The year God gave you His new set of glasses.

Congratulations NCC Community. August 18 marked 50 days of remote learning for our Prep-Year 3 students. The number is much greater for the higher year levels. We encourage you to celebrate this milestone, in a special way with your family. And if you can spread the joy from this celebration with others, that’s even better!

Think of a creative and exciting way that your family could celebrate, and perhaps a way to make it ‘others-focused’. 

Maybe your family could bake 50 cookies for sharing with the neighbours… 

Your family could walk 50 times around the park across the road…

You could dry and put away 50 crockery/cutlery items every evening for your family…

Your family could read the Bible together for 50 minutes each night… 

Send your idea and some photo/video evidence to news@ncc2.vic.edu.au by Monday, August 31.

Our judges will select the 5 most creative and inspiring ideas, and each of these students will receive $10 to shout something special for their family.

We look forward to seeing your 50+ Days of Remote Learning Celebration!

It is easy to acknowledge worship when we are in church singing praises and bowing our heads in prayer. But what about in the rest of our lives? How do we worship God in the middle of our day-to-day activities? 

10 Ways to Worship God in Real Life

1. Give your best in whatever you’re doing.

Doing our best in everything we do is an act of worship. The Apostle Paul encourages us to work for the Lord. When we view our work as working for Him, it causes us to want to give our best. 

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. – Colossians 3:23-24

2. Take care of yourself.

Who would have thought that brushing our teeth, taking showers, exercising, and eating healthy are areas of worship. God says offering our bodies to Him in service, is a true act of worship. Taking care of our bodies is a way to honour our Creator. 

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will. – Romans 12:1-2

3. Put Him first in your mind.

It is easy to get lost in our thoughts. The comparison game starts when we talk to others or we see something on social media. Relationships, food or finances may consume your thoughts. The teaching in the Bible states that we are to capture every thought and give it over to Jesus. If we were to take note of our thoughts, we can redirect them in worship.

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. – 2 Corinthians 10:5

4. Stay in the moment.

Have you ever been in the middle of something and your mind wanders off into the distance. Worshipping in the middle of an ordinary day is about staying connected. The next time that you may have free time, invite Jesus into the moment instead of scrolling through the socials or tuning into something on Netflix.   

5. Serve someone else.

Whilst Jesus was here on earth, He gave us the example to serve others. When we look for opportunities to serve others, we begin to act like the hands and feet of Jesus. It definitely pleases God when we serve others.

6. Say it.

Have you ever had a nice thought about someone else but then kept that thought to yourself? The next time that you have the thought, just say it. We are so good at letting the bad come out, but not so good at letting others know the good. By saying good things we are worshipping God. 

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. – Hebrews 3:13

7. Don’t say it. 

In an engine bay, there is an important little device called a fuel filter. This little device removes the impurities from the fuel before it enters the engine. In the same way, we need to filter out any unkind or unproductive words before they even leave our mouths. Worship is as much about what we choose not to say as it is about what we do say. 

8. Give generously.

What we do with our money says a lot about our faith. Jesus spoke about being wise with money quite frequently. When we choose to give back to God some of what He has blessed us with it is a form of worship. Using our resources to bless others is a way of worshipping God! 

9. Do what you were made to do.

We all have a purpose. When we accept our purpose and dive into it, it is a form of worship. Is there a next step you need to take or something you’ve been procrastinating with? Go for it and dive on in as an act of worship today. 

10. Be thankful.

When things are going easy, it is easy to be thankful. But when things become much harder, being thankful becomes much harder. Thanking God for everything, even the hard times puts our heart in a state of worship.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

God can turn the ordinary in our lives into extraordinary worship if we invite Him to join us. God wants us to live with Him as the focus in the world that He chose to place us in.  

I am your God and you are mine.

I make a way, when there is no way.

I am the God of solutions.

I am the God who restores.

I care about the details in your life,

The intricate, delicate, sensitive details.

I have a way to show you how to respond to these intricate details.

I bring forth love, where it looks like there is none.

Know this, where you see even death,

I see a momentary rest.

The winter tree looks lifeless

And yet it joyfully brings forth new life,

Even before winter ends.

This, I will do for you,

I am the God who brings restoration,

Before a season has ended.

I will remind you of my specific and detailed love for you.

Look for it and I will show you over and over again,

For eternity.

Week 5 – Coconut IsoChef Winning Entries

Prep – Year 3

First Place: Zion

Runner Up: Arina

Year 4 – 6

First Place: Claire

Runner Up: Benjamin

Year 7 – 9

First Place: Elena

Runner Up: Ezra

Year 10 – 12

First Place: Siew

Staff

First Place: Mrs Speirs

Second Place: Mrs McNamara

Third Place: Bryan

Like many, ‘zoom’ has taken on a new meaning for us in 2020. Previously it would have referred to getting in our pretend rocket ships and zooming off into outer space. Not this year.  Zooming online is now a weekly highlight for many of our preschoolers and staff! Our first zoom together was particularly emotional as we saw faces for the first time in what seemed like ages. Our focus during this time together is prayer and hearing God’s word through His stories. We finish with a game or activity to help further connect us.

Our other online platform is also being heavily used. Each day our very creative staff are posting a variety of videos. These include stories being read, crafts being made, or science experiments being tested – all related to a specific theme for the day. We have received lots of positive feedback from this forum.  

While all this online learning is taking place, our centre is still open for essential workers’ children, but nothing compares to us all being together in one room. We look forward, with great anticipation, to that day!

Our Creative Arts Festival Day was a fun way of focusing on student wellbeing. Thank you to our specialist teachers for supporting our students via video demonstrations in a range of exciting activities!  

Students used coffee as paint to create winter trees, folded origami fish, learnt some choreographed movements and actions for worship songs, practised Chinese calligraphy, made healthy fruit balls and prepared rice paper rolls. 

In affirmation of our teachers, we share here some of the feedback received from school families:

Thank you teachers. The thought and extra time on top of what you are already doing never goes unnoticed. You provided stimulating, challenging activities that gave our children an outlet to express themselves without the limitations of time and ability level. They came away feeling good about what they had created and new skills they had learned.

Thank you for the creative ideas. The boys are going to use their coffee cards for my sister’s 40th in a couple of weeks, as she loves coffee. I hope they still smell by then! I heard lots of giggles coming out during the music lesson. They were having a blast.

Thank you so much for making this day special for the children. They have been working so hard at home in a very unnatural way and this gave them a break from the pressures of remote learning and a day of fun. We appreciate all that you are doing during this time.

Each session was fabulous, thank you very much. The whole family is planning to enjoy the art session on the weekend as well.

Our theme for chapel this term is “Experiencing God”.  Each week, we interview one teacher in their home, to learn more about them and how they personally have experienced God. These testimonies are wonderful for our students to witness how much our teachers love and follow God. Here’s what we learnt in this past fortnight.

Mrs Pillai collects scarves from all the countries she has visited and loves her labradoodle puppy, Cooper.

Her favourite verse is Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” 

Mrs Pillai takes comfort in this verse because, when her own life plans have been frustrated, God’s plans for her life come through, for her good.  Coming to work at NCC was not in her plans, but she believes it was God’s plan to bring her here.  Her relationship with Jesus has only grown and her decision to be baptised was influenced by the spiritual people she met here.

Mrs Williams is a twin – and just loves her sister.  They think alike and finish each other’s sentences.  Some people have compared her to her sister, which is the negative side of being a twin, but her parents always encouraged their individual gifts and talents, and never compared them.

Mrs Williams’ favourite verse is Acts 20:24 – “But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.”  

This verse gives her a purpose, and the reason she became a teacher was to pass on the Good News of the love of our Heavenly Father.

We look forward to hearing more testimonies in the coming weeks. Parents are always welcome to tune in to chapel each Friday at 9:15am or 10:15am at https://nccchapel.online.church/

Year 4 recently kicked off their first Writing lesson on the genre of ‘Procedures’, with a hands-on experience. The class members became MasterChefs! 

They met each other in their kitchens – remotely of course! They aproned up, washed their hands and made scones. It was so much fun! The students loved the experience, especially being able to eat what they had created – with whipped cream and jam (if they were lucky enough to have some on hand!)

One of the students made his scones with all plant-based ingredients, and his family enjoyed this different option. It was great for him to be able to experience the process with a vegan focus.

They then reviewed the process and wrote a Procedure based on their experience as chefs. The practical experience of following step-by-step instructions encouraged them to recognise the logic and clarity needed in this form of writing.

For those of you who would like to try the recipe that the Year 4 students followed, here is the procedure written by one of the class members, Hillary.

How to make scones

Making delicious scones!

Ingredients:

• 3.5 cups of self-rising flour
• 1 cup of thickened cream
• 1 cup of lemonade

Equipment:

• Mixing bowl
• Wooden spoon
• Measuring cups
• Tray – for baking
• Cooling rack
• Knife or cookie cutter (if you have one)

Steps:

1. Wash your hands (VERY IMPORTANT)
2. Preheat oven to 220 degrees
3. Wear apron
4. Add the measured self-rising flour into the bowl
5. Make a well (hole) in the flour
6. Add the measured cream into the well of the flour
7. Add the measured lemonade into the well of the flour
8. Mix the ingredients together, but don’t stir too much/hard
9. Sprinkle a little bit of flour onto the table/bench and your hands so the mixture won’t stick
10. Put the mixture onto the table and knead the mixture for 3-5 times (try not to overwork the dough as it makes the scones tough!)
11. Shape the dough with a cookie cutter (if you don’t have one, use a knife) but don’t turn the cookie cutter as it seals the side of the scone and stops the rising as successfully.
12. After cutting, lift onto the tray (put them touching each other, they’ll rise better if they are helping each other!)
13. Keep cutting until there’s no dough left
14. When ready, put into the oven for 10-12 minutes
15. While waiting, clean up the kitchen and wash your hands
16. When ready, cool on cooling rack
17. Enjoy!

And you’ve made yourself some scones!

Photo: Moana, Year 4

Each week the Prep class has time to be creative, both indoors and outdoors. Ms Austen gives them instructions via the online platform ‘Seesaw’ and the students get to build and make, then upload a photo or video of their creations. Maker Monday, Wonderful Wednesday and Fantastic Friday give them a chance to be off-screen and play – with a STEM focus!

We think all our students are superheroes in the way that they have mastered the art of remote learning. A superhero dress up day was in order as a fun way to celebrate reaching over 50 days of remote learning! 

Here’s a little insight into one of the superhero inspired discussions held that day. 

Dressed in their costumes, the Year 2/3 students discussed the purpose of superheroes – helping others. When sharing what super power they would like to have, being invisible and being able to fly were high on the list! They discussed superheroes like the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) who are often the first on the scene to help people during bushfires and floods and to support people experiencing homelessness. They soon concluded that you don’t need to wear your undies on the outside to be a superhero, but just need to be willing to help others.

Just because students are working from home doesn’t mean that practical activities can’t occur. Our Year 11 Biology students have been learning about the process of meiosis and how gametes (egg and sperm cells) are formed. They recently showed their understanding of the process by creating stop motion videos that illustrate what happens to the DNA and chromosomes at each stage.

The Year 11 Text and Traditions students recently had a special guest join their online class. Pr Moe Stiles (wife of Mr Adrian Stiles) shared insight into the book of Amos and it’s relevance and importance in contemporary society. Pr Moe provided wisdom and understanding of the text as well as her personal experiences in the fight against social injustice. We thank Pr Moe for joining and sharing her stories.

“But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!” – Amos 5:24

Students in Year 7 Girls English are studying the text ‘Boy Overboard’. They have been exploring how the actions of certain characters tell us a lot about the kind of person they are. Within this context, students were asked to describe themselves and write a short anecdote that represents one of their descriptions. Have a read of some of their descriptions and funny stories!

Name: Katrina

How would you describe yourself? Joyous, extroverted, bold, clumsy with words (spelling), claustrophobic.

Share an anecdote that links with one of your descriptive words: It was the summer of 2016. I flew over to my cousins in the Philippines. We went out to many beaches but one particular area had a small cave. Since my mum wanted to take a photo in it, we crammed in there and took as many photos as possible. From afar it didn’t look too bad but as soon as I stepped inside, it felt like the walls of the cave were going to come closer and close in on me and that I was going to be trapped in there. I immediately started crying and ran out and my mum said to take one photo for the experience. It was certainly an experience I haven’t forgotten. I didn’t know the word then but a few years later I realised I was claustrophobic.

Name: Elena

How would you describe yourself? Imaginative, passionate, scared easily, awkward with new people, overthinks, helpful, can’t dance around people properly, despiser of spiders.

Share an anecdote that links with one of your descriptive words: It all started when I was in Prep. I was a small person and I was learning about spiders (which are a monstrosity to society). On the way home I told my family about it (this is a time when I wasn’t scared of spiders because I was just learning about them). But, my sister took my ‘learning’ a step further. She decided to find photos of spiders. Consequently, I found a passion for HATING SPIDERS. And unfortunately for me, ever since then, somehow I keep finding myself in situations with spiders. For example, one time a huge spider was on the roof at my old school. All I saw was a crowd of people so I was intrigued and checked it out. Bad idea. There were a bunch of screaming kids and in one blink of an eye they had the spider (which was HUGE) on a piece of bark. Are they not scared it’s going to crawl up their arm with it’s legs (TOO MANY LEGS)? I have never run so hard in my life!

Name: Zoey

How would you describe yourself? Gets scared easily. Laughs at own jokes. Super power to sleep anywhere, any time. I guess you could say I’m not fond of rollercoasters either. Extrovert and perfectionist. Makes people laugh and cringe. Crashes into things a lot!

Share an anecdote that links with one of your descriptive words: I was on a small roller coaster in the year 2019, at The Royal Melbourne Show. I had decided to go on a ride with a friend of mine and we rode together. With the exception that we had to sit with two strangers.

It was scary (my first roller coaster). I knew there was a part where there would be a photo on the ride and I wanted to look fabulous. But I didn’t know when that would happen. 

I was about to die. There was so much spinning and dropping! I thought I would fall off, but managed not to with my (very) strong grip on the barricade. The end came near and I was not aware of the camera. The man next to us was and he pointed towards it with his daughter. My hair had been pulled back all that time, making it a mess. I was cringing at how frightening it was. The colour of my skin was the most reddest thing ever (literally!!). 

My friend next to me looked like the crazy monster under my bed. I was sinking into my own sea of skin and holding on for dear life to the pole barricade, which was my superman! My knees were shaking, it was crazy. The end photographic result was horrific. The strangers looked like models next to us. After this ride I looked like Albert Einstein or ‘Trolls’ but not as smart or cute! Our mums were screaming in laughter…

This Independent Schools Victoria resource has a lot of helpful advice on parenting throughout lockdown and difficult times.

The Parents Website.

We have second hand MacBook Air laptops for sale. Contact the school office for purchase details  – admin@ncc2.vic.edu.au or 9877 3555

MacBook Air 11 inch (Early 2015)

• A1465 / 1.6GHz Core i5 / 4GB RAM / 128GB SSD
• $330 each

This year there are digital copies of the Entertainment Book available, rather than physical copies. Purchase your digital copy here to support NCC fundraising. Along with many other discounts for use around Melbourne, the memberships also include eGift Card discounts.